From the start of the season, Nico Rosberg seemed like he wanted it that little bit more than in previous seasons, and made a dominant start to the season by winning the first three races and building up a decent lead in the championship. But then the tables turned a little bit and a series of wins for Hamilton meant he then had a slender lead himself. However, due to a couple of mechanical issues in the second half of the season plus a couple of engine changes for Hamilton meant he had to take a couple of grid penalties, which left the door wide open for Rosberg to win and retake the lead in the championship.
The showdown in Abu Dhabi, or the "Duel in the Desert" as it became known was a very tense affair with Hamilton out front being shadowed by Rosberg as well as the red bulls and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari. Nico only needed to finish second place to win the title, so Hamilton was trying everything he could to back Rosberg up into the chasing pack, and a request from the team to speed up was completely ignored by Lewis, which may have repercussions for him in the future! Eventually, Hamilton won the race, with Nico in second to claim his first World Title. In fact the first five cars were covered by less than three seconds going over the line, showing just how much Hamilton had backed them all up. Only a week or so later, The new word champion Rosberg shocked not only the F1 world but also the sporting world by announcing his retirement from F1 with immediate effect. I guess if you are going to go, go out on top, and that's exactly what he has done.
Ever since that shock announcement, the rumour mill has been churning as to who will replace Rosberg at Mercedes. Names such as Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Ocon were mentioned, but Fernando has committed his future to McLaren and it is now almost certain that Williams ace Valtari Bottas with take up the seat, because in another shock development, Felipe Massa has agreed to race for Williams in 2017, having previously announced his retirement at the end of this season, which subsequently allows Bottas to leave. It will be interesting to see how Bottas fits in at Mercedes and whether he is able to compete with Hamilton. I very much hope that he does, and that next season is not completely one sided. I also hope that the red bulls and Ferrari's are able to give Mercedes a run for their money and compete with them on a regular basis. Only time will tell!
